Researchers Awarded 2026 Diabetes Research Grant to Advance Early Detection of Diabetic Eye Disease

Congratulations to Drs Lisa Nivison-Smith, Matt Trinh and Professor Bang Bui who were awarded the 2026 Diabetes Research Grant from the Elizabeth O’Beirne and Robert and Emmy Mather Trust Fund

The funding will cover the project entitled “Detecting Early Diabetic Retinal Dysfunction using a Novel Flicker Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) Approach.” In this project, Drs Nivison-Smith, Trinh and Professor Bui will plan to use flicker OCTA to assess a process known as neurovascular coupling in diabetic retinopathy.

“Breakdown of this process is an emerging mechanism for diabetic retinopathy however further understanding has been limited by availability of methods to safely and quickly measure neurovascular coupling in the eye.” says Dr Nivison-Smith. “Our team however have developed a novel flicker lens that induces neurovascular responses during OCTA imaging and have used it successfully in eyes of healthy adults. In this project we will test eyes with diabetes and diabetic retinopathy to determine when and where neurovascular impairment emerges and if flicker OCTA could be a future testing technique.”

The funding will be used to support research personnel and recruit participants for the project.

“We hope this project will provide reliable, real-time evidence of neurovascular loss in diabetic retinopathy which could be used to enhance screening and early detection.” says Dr Nivison-Smith.